


President

by mysticalmultifandom



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Character Death, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25777318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticalmultifandom/pseuds/mysticalmultifandom
Summary: Ben fulfilled his promise to Leslie.
Relationships: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	President

**Author's Note:**

> A little short. Listen to Married Life from up while reading.

Ben must have driven about forty over the speed limit to get to the hospital. Ann had gone to drop the triplets off at the Parks Department with everyone else so she could be there too. He threw the door to the hospital open, getting looks of sympathy from the people in the waiting room.

“Leslie Knope.” He whispered, trying to catch his breath. “Please.”

“You must be Ben Wyatt. The husband?” The nurse asked. He nodded, tilting his head.

“She’s been asking for you. As well as an “Ann Perkins?”

“Her best friend. She’s on her way” Ben replied. “What happened to her?”

She sighed. “A gunshot wound to the stomach. She’s still awake but she lost tons of blood. We don’t think she’ll make it. She’s still awake, fairly alert. We just don’t know for how long.”

Ben almost passed out. His wife got shot. The one time he couldn’t go to one of her public forums because the babysitter canceled on them. He's never left a place so fast in his life. When he got the call, the nurse couldn't get out what happened to her. He was thanking every god in the world that Ann was there with him. He told her to drop the kids off at the parks department, then to meet him at the hospital. He was off the phone and on his way to his wife.

“Leslie’s in room twelve.”

Ben thanked her, before sprinting down the hallway. Weaving in and out of people before finally making it to Leslie’s room. He opened the door slowly, to see her looking small and pale in the white bedsheets.

“Ben.” She said weekly.

“Oh gosh, baby.” He whispered rushing over to her bed. She reached up and touched his cheek. He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to ask if she was okay, but she obviously wasn’t.

“Hi, honey.” She mumbled weakly. He sat in the chair by her bed, suddenly finding it difficult to stand up. He wanted to scream, he doesn’t even know if the person who did this has been caught. Granted her room was now being guarded by buff security guards, so she was safe  _ now _ . But he still didn’t know who did this to her. 

“Honey, God I should have been there.” He stated, putting his head on the bed. He felt her hand stroke his head. She was so weak, it was nothing like when she normally played with his hair.

“It’s okay.” She whispered softly. He took her hand, rubbed it with his thumb. “You can let me go.” 

He looked at her as if she was insane. She was giving up. Leslie Knope never gave up. He held her hand just a little bit tighter. 

“W-what are you talking about?”

“Babe, the doctors. I overheard them. I know I don’t have long.” Leslie replied, her voice getting more weak and raspy. 

“I know you have it in you, honey. Can you keep fighting?”

“I don’t know,” Leslie whispered. Ben nodded, holding back his tears.

“Ann is coming, honey. She’s coming as fast as she can.” Ben promised. 

“The kids. How are they?”

“They’re okay. Ann just dropped them off at the Parks Department with everyone. They don't know.“

“Tell them I love them. And that I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep going. Okay?”

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. It opened and Ann entered. Leslie looked over and smiled at her best friend. Ann looked as if she was ready to double over in pain. She looked like she wanted to cry. Ann slowly approached Ben’s side. 

“Leslie.” She whispered, taking her best friend's hand. 

“I’m so sorry Ann,” Leslie whispered to her best friend.

“It’s okay, Les. You can let go.” Ann replied, her voice shaking. Ben placed his hand on Ann’s shoulder. “It’s okay if you have to let go.”

“Ben,” Leslie whispered, her voice getting lower and lower. Ann stepped back so he could be near her. He got on the bed next to her, Leslie curling into his chest one last time. He couldn’t even begin to imagine this is the last time he’d feel her cuddling into him. “I’m so sorry baby. I love you and the kids so much.”

“It’s okay honey.”

“Babe. We love the movie Up.” She mumbled out.

He couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face. They did, they loved Up so much. They joked about how they’d be Carl and Ellie when they grew older. He wiped the tears out of his eyes before he answered. “Yeah. We do baby.”

“Go to Paradise Falls for me.”

“W-what?” He knew what she meant. The White House was their version of Paradise Falls. Leslie was going to be the first female President and Ben was going to be the First Gentleman. 

“Become president for me, baby.”

“I will. I’ll go to Paradise Falls.”

He felt Leslie squeeze his hand one last time before her eyes closed. She became limp in his arms, he looked at Ann with widened eyes. Before either of them could process, the heart monitor flatlined. Ben buried his face in her hair and sobbed. Ann held herself together enough to grab a nurse, but she couldn’t get out what happened. She couldn’t say it. That made it too real. She just dragged the nurse to Leslie's room. The room was filled with Bens sobs and the flatlining heart monitor. 

The nurse had unplugged the monitor and allowed Ben and Ann some time. 

***

Ben did go on to be president for Leslie, though he never fully moved on. It was just him and the three kids. They were too young to understand what happened to their mom, too young to understand why they were only growing up with a dad. The family of four had an incredibly hard time moving on. 

Ben didn’t feel right in the Oval Office. That chair was meant for  _ Leslie Knope _ . 

He sat back in his chair after a rather long day, specifically the day of his inauguration. The kids were off playing down the hall, amazed by the big house they’d be living in. He could hear them running around and laughing. Telling each other how excited they were. He sighed, staring up at the ceiling like he normally did when he wanted to talk to Leslie. 

“I did it, babe.” He whispered, grabbing a picture from their wedding day placed on his desk. He wiped his tears before choking out, “I’m in Paradise Falls.”


End file.
